Spotted a new (to me) bird today: Eurasian Tree Sparrow. We were watching and saw this one among the crowd at the bird feeder, and I noticed the black splotch on its neck. My Merlin Bird ID phone-ap says "introduced to a small region in the central U.S.", that would include us! Next challenge: get a decent photo!
BASIC DESCRIPTION - from allaboutbirds
"In late April 1870, a shipment of European birds from Germany was released in St. Louis, Missouri, in order to provide familiar bird species for newly settled European immigrants. The shipment included 12 hardy Eurasian Tree Sparrows. These chestnut-capped, white-cheeked arrivals prospered in the hedges and woodlots of the region, ultimately spreading through northeastern Missouri, west-central Illinois, and southeastern Iowa. Unlike its relative, the House Sparrow, it is not a bird of cities, instead using farms and lightly wooded residential areas."
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